Faulty Soulmates
by ipsa dixit
Summary: Collection of stories for the Romance Awareness Challenge, all Wolfstar, in some sense of the word
1. Faulty Spells

**For the Romance Awareness Challenge at the Hogwarts school, day one: Write about someone casting a spell (or getting a spell cast) to find their soulmate.**

 **Word Count: 357 by Google Docs**

* * *

Remus had finally perfected his spell. His roommates had no idea he had even spent time making it, but he _needed_ to know. It was the most important magic he would make, in his opinion, more important than making the Marauders' Map, even.

He, if everything went right, had made a spell to find out who his soulmate was.

He did it while James, Sirius and Peter were sound asleep, because he wanted to avoid questions. The spell was supposed to show only Remus a ray of light which would lead to his soulmate, if he even had one. He didn't know if werewolves had one.

He muttered the incantation, " _Amor Vitisque Repertor_ ", closed his eyes, and hoped. When he opened his eyes, he saw a trail of gold seeping from the end of his wand and he almost cheered, before remembering that he was in a room of sleeping people. Grinning, he got up, decided to see where his trail leaded. He wondered if the girl was in his house, or a different house, or maybe not even in Hogwarts.

His line was much shorter than he thought it would be.

And it didn't lead to any girl.

Remus froze.

His spell must've messed up.

It couldn't be.

It didn't make any sense.

He didn't even have to leave the room to follow his trail, because the trail ended at the bed across from his, Sirius' bed.

It was impossible. He messed up somehow.

Remus gave a nervous chuckle and got back into bed, trying to ignore what his spell told him, but the trail was still there, at the end of his wand.

Sirius _couldn't_ be his roommate. For starters, Sirius was a _guy_. Remus didn't have anything against gay people, but he wasn't gay himself. Sirius definitely wasn't, Remus knew, from the amount of times Sirius locked him out of their dormitory. And besides, they were friends, just friends. Nothing else.

So Remus closed his eyes and tried to forget, assuming that his spell didn't work.

 _Yes, that's it_ , he thought, rolling over in his bed. _It didn't work. Maybe I'll fix it later..._


	2. Faulty Names

For Day 2 of the Romance Awareness Challenge, Your soulmate's name is written on your wrist.

Word Count: 482 by Google Docs

* * *

"There is no one in this world called 'Remus Lupin'" Sirius said to James, looking at his arm, disgruntled. "That's a stupid name. Wolf McWolf. Stupid," Sirius muttered, sinking into the couch besides James.

"Sucks for you," James laughed. "Lucky for me there _is_ someone named Lliy Evans." James had a stupid grin on his face and Sirius groaned loudly.

"Yes, I _know_ , you love her. Please _shut up_ for once."

James looked slightly hurt but kept his mouth shut all the same. After three minutes of sitting in silence, Sirius got up.

"Where are you going," James called, as Sirius made to open the door.

"To find this idiot of a soulmate," he called back, leaving their shared apartment.

"Gay bar," James said to no one, nodding.

"Mate, this is the perfect spot," Peter insisted, patting Remus on the back. "Go in, dance with some blokes, find this 'Sirius'." When Remus glared at Peter and didn't enter the bar, Peter added, "You _did_ lose our bet."

Remus sighed, still not speaking to his friend, but walked in, all the same.

"Good luck," Peter said, giving him another pat on the back and walking away. Remus took a deep breath and ventured further into the shabby little place and looked around. There was only one other person at the bar, so he decided to start with 'finding his soulmate' there.

The person at the bar had wavy black hair that seemed messy, but still nice. He was glaring at the glass in his hand, and from the look in his eyes, Remus guessed that this guy was already on his fourth or fifth cup.

The guy nodded at Remus when he sat besides him, but made no attempt to start a conversation. The bartender appeared in front of Remus and he ordered a simple beer, which, he decided, would last him the entire night.

"You also looking for your supposed soulmate?"

The voice startled Remus, as he thought the other person wasn't going to talk to him at all, yet here he was, asking Remus a question.

"Yeah," Remus answered, honestly.

"I think this whole thing is a load of BS, honestly. I mean, who'd name their kid 'Remus Lupin'. The universe is shitting with me," the guy said, with a air of bitterness. Remus' breath hitched. That was _his_ name. He let out a forced chuckle.

"What's your name, then?" Remus asked. "If the name Remus is so ridiculous, then what's a proper name?"

"Sirius Black," he answered, spreading his arms and sloshing his drink, which he had gotten refilled.

"Oh, okay, then," Remus said, fighting the urge to look at his wrist, where he already knew the name _Sirius Black_ was etched in.

"Your name?"

"The one that's so ridiculous, according to you," Remus said, pursing his lips. "I'm Remus Lupin," he said, sticking out a hand. "I'm your soulmate."


	3. Faulty Words

For Day 3, You are born with words on your arm which are the first words your soulmate says to you.

blame emiliya wolfe

Word Count: 341 by Google Docs

* * *

In his entire life, Remus had never met anyone who had greeted him with the sentence ' _you know, cabbages are fun to smell_ ', yet the words were still etched onto his arm, plain as day.

Remus tried to spend a lot of time in the grocery story, specifically in the produce section, waiting, _wishing_ , for his soulmate to come and greet him like that.

Why would someone greet him like that? No one greeted someone like that? Who was his soulmate, some type of person with a weird cabbage fetish? He wasn't sure he _wanted_ this soulmate.

Then, one day, a guy stumbled right into Remus' spot, right next to the cabbages and giggled at him. Remus caught the guy, who seemed like he was about to fall over. He was definitely drunk. Or high. Or both.

The random guy pointed behind Remus, right at the cabbages.

"You know, cabbages are fun to smell, aha."

Remus froze, in shock, and then started to laugh. He sunk to the floor, cracking up. _This_ guy was his soulmate?

"Sorry, sorry," Remus panted, once he had composed himself. "I just didn't think—" He started laughing again, attracting looks from people around him.

"Aha-ha-ha," Remus' soulmate laughed faintly. "I know those words from somewhere." The guy was on the floor with Remus and he still seemed out of it. "Oh, yeah, they're on my arm!" He rolled up his sleeve eagerly, revealing a tattoo that read ' _sorry, sorry, I just didn't think…'_

They seemed to be a match.

Remus got up and offered a hand to his soulmate— _his soulmate_ — which was accepted, and pulled him to his feet. Right away, he stumbled into Remus.

"Sorry, I just had surgery done," his soulmate explained, seeming to regain control of himself.

Remus grinned, letting out another laugh.

"Well, come over to my place and rest maybe?"

Remus' soulmate grinned and nodded.

"Sure, soulmate," he said, giving Remus a friendly punch in the arm.

"Oh, boy," Remus muttered, putting one of the guy's arms around his shoulders.


	4. Faulty Strength

For Day 4, You can take away some of your soulmate's pain for yourself.

Word Count: 351 by Google Docs

* * *

Remus was ready to leave after just one night in the Hospital Wing.

"No, really, Madam Pomfrey," he said. "I feel like I could swim the length of the Black Lake. I feel great." Remus gave a grin for extra effect, even though he wasn't lying. He felt really good, much better than he usually did after a full moon. Madam Pomfrey gave him a once over and sighed.

"Well, as long as you _don't_ do that, you can go."

Remus grinned. "I won't!" he promised, as he left the Hospital Wing, going to find his friends. He walked into the Great Hall, just in time for lunch.

"Hey, guys," he said to his three friends, taking his usual seat next to Sirius. The faces that greeted him were shocked, as they were all surprised to see Remus out so early.

"You're back," James said, grinning at his friend. Sirius gave Remus a weak smile; he didn't look very good.

"You okay, Sirius?" Remus asked, searching his friend's face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just exhausted and a little bit achey, but I'll be fine. And my head hurts, but—" Sirius shrugged.

Remus frowned. Sirius was sounding like Remus after a full moon.

"You sure you're okay?" Remus asked, again, concerned.

"Yes, Mum," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I was just… experimenting with something last night. Didn't go too well, but I expected that. Anyway, I'm _fine_."

Remus squinted his eyes. He wanted to interrogate Sirius more, but James and Peter were watching the pair, so Remus shrugged it off.

It sounded as if Sirius took away Remus' after-full-moon pain and put it on himself, but that type of power didn't exist, unless the pair of people were…

 _Soulmates?_

Remus almost laughed aloud at his own thought.

Him and Sirius weren't soulmates.

 _But he has a lot of pain and you don't,_ a voice in his head reminded him. _Plus, you like the most out of all your friends. You know you do._

 _Also, he must know it too,_ the voice continued. _He just can't keep his eyes off of you, can he?_


	5. Faulty Colours

Romance Appreciation Month, Day 5, People can't see colour until they meet their soulmate.

Word Count: 306 by Google Docs

* * *

James wasn't very good at describing colors, but, in his defense, he tried, for Sirius' sake. It had been two years since James had started seeing colours and two years since Sirius wished, for the first time, that he knew what red looked like. Or orange, blue, green, ecru, _all_ of them. While James had met Lily and the world became colourful, Sirius had yet to meet _his_ soulmate. His world was black and white.

And then he bumped into a random stranger at the grocery store.

He had offered to do some shopping for Lily and James; he had his own shopping to do, and they were busy with their baby, Harry. They accepted graciously, and Sirius was happy that they were busy with Harry— his best mate had a baby!— but he couldn't help going to the store feeling bitter. He knew that the apples he was holding were probably red, but James had said that some of them were green, or even yellow. Like it made any difference to Sirius. All apples were grey.

He shoved the— red, green, yellow?— apples into his shopping cart and made his way over to the heads of cabbages. He bumped into someone, who was wearing a shabby jacket and had thin hair, mumbled a 'sorry', and continued on his merry way, except the cabbages looked different. Sirius supposed _that_ was what colour was. James had mentioned cabbages' colour once, green?

But if Sirius was suddenly seeing in colour—

Sirius whipped around, but he couldn't see the person he bumped into.

Abandoning the cabbages and the rest of his groceries, Sirius walked into the mass of people in the store, looking, looking. He had been _so_ close. Where was that guy, that one, single guy, who changed his entire perspective, literally.

But he was gone.


	6. Faulty Hair

For the Romance Awareness Challenge, Day 6, If your soulmate dyes their hair, your hair changes colour too.

Word Count: 360 by Google Docs

* * *

In retrospect, it was all Remus' fault. He assumed that Sirius wasn't listening to him; he went on rambles all the time without any sign of Sirius listening. If he _had_ assumed that Sirius was listening, maybe he wouldn't have hair matching to Sirius Black

He was reading, with Sirius leaning against him, when he came against something interesting in his book.

"Hey, do you know if you dye your hair, your soulmate's hair _also_ gets dyed?" Sirius said nothing.

Remus woke up with bright orange hair. When he found Sirius, ready to confront him, Sirius refused to let his hood down.

"It's _cold_ , Moony!"

But Remus saw a few orange hairs sticking out of the hood.

And so the battle began.

There were simple color changing spells and Remus picked a color he thought would annoy Sirius the most— green, with silver mixed in. Sirius was livid the next morning and immediately rounded on James.

" _It wasn't me!_ " James shouted.

"Then who else was it?" Sirius asked, running a finger through his new hair.

"Maybe your boyfriend, who happens to have matching hair _and_ is laughing hysterically," James suggested, pointing at Remus.

Sirius turned to Remus and pulled out his wand. Remus was scared that Sirius would hex him— he knew some nasty ones— but Sirius instead pointed the wand to himself. His hair. He muttered something under his breath and Remus knew that his hair was the same shade of magenta as Sirius'.

Remus pulled out his own wand and made his hair bright pink. Sirius' hair mimicked it.

Remus was vaguely aware of James' and Peter's eyes switching between the couple, watching their hair color change again and again.

"Stop, _stop,_ STOP!" Remus said, waving his arms, after his hair was turned rainbow colored. "Can we _please_ call a truce? This is ridiculous."

"Sure," Sirius said, laughing. He pointed his wand at his own head and Sirius' hair turned back into his normal black, but Remus had a feeling that it was just another dye, and his hair had copied it.

"Well," James said, looking utterly bemused. "at least you know for sure that you're soul mates."


	7. Faulty Watch

For Romance Appreciation Month, Day 7, There's a timer on your wrist that counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate.

Word Count: 421 by Google Docs

* * *

Sirius was sick of the watch on his wrist, unfortunately, he couldn't take it off. The watch had a timer that was permanently on his body, but the timer was also very broken. According to, well, _everyone_ , the timer was counting down to when you would meet your soulmate, but Sirius' timer would go up and down and sometimes not even show numbers, glitching entirely.

So Sirius ignored the timer on his wrist and dated whoever the hell he pleased, even though his heart was broken more times than he could count.

He had thought he finally found his soulmate when he met Remus, because finally his timer showed 00:00, and so did Remus', but after two years — _two years_ — Remus broke up with him. Remus married the girl he had met five minutes before Sirius, Nymphadora.

His watch started to glitch again and he wanted to tear it off and throw it away, but he couldn't.

 _What was wrong with him? Why wouldn't the watch work?_

"Mate. Hey, mate." Sirius was being shaken awake from his thoughts from his coworker, Lily. "What're you thinking about?"

Sirius looked around the restaurant where the pair of them worked. It was empty.

"I closed up while you were dozing off over here," Lily explained. "What were you thinking about?" she repeated.

Sirius sighed and fingered his watch through his long sleeved shirt.

"My timer," he admitted. Lily raised her eyebrow.

"Did it get to zero?"

"No." He sighed. "It doesn't work. Never did." Sirius rolled up his sleeve to reveal his timer, which currently read A3:?2. To his surprise, Lily's face broke out into a huge grin.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"Your— I— My—" Lily was waving her hands around wildly and she seemed too excited to form a complete sentence. She pulled up her sleeve also, to reveal a timer that said A1:13.

"Yours is messed up, too!" Sirius exclaimed. "Well, do you know _why_? Why are ours messed up?"

"Yeah, I asked my mom, ages ago. It means we're asexual."

"Asexual?"

"Yup."

Sirius pursed his lips. "So I just don't have a soulmate?" He always thought that he had One True Love, but if what Lily said was true…

"Nope. But soulmates aren't all knocked up to be, if I'm being honest with you. That's why God made friends," she said with a smile, nudging Sirius in the arm.

"Oh." Sirius took a deep breath, feeling fifty times lighter. He grinned widely. "Yeah, I agree. Soulmates are stupid."


	8. Faulty Body

what's this? a fic of mine i actually like?

for the romance awareness challenge, day 8, When you turn a certain age, you swap bodies with your soulmate for one day of the year

word count: 1161 by google docs

* * *

Sirius woke up in the middle of the night, in a bed that was not his, in a body that was not his, incredibly confused. He had approximately five seconds to be confused before someone— some _thing?_ — jumped through his open window, struck him, and left. Sirius started to bleed. His hearing shut off, his eyesight was blurry and he felt strange inside, as if something had changed within him. Two people that Sirius didn't know burst into the room and ran over to Sirius. The woman looked like she was crying, but why? Sirius started to feel light headed and his vision was flickering out, but he could see the man brandish a wand— _yes_ , Sirius _knew_ wands, those fit in— and wave it over Sirius' side, where the whatever-it-was had bitten him. He was bleeding quite a lot there. Suddenly, he felt the urge to bite the man in front of him, for no good reason. Then his life went black.

...

Remus expected to be woken up by his parents at eight-thirty, just like every other day of his life, but someone knocked on his door when the sun seemed to just be peeking over the horizon. It took Remus a moment to wake up, but once he did fully, he realized that he wasn't in his own room, or his own bed. He got up, pulled open the closet in the room and put on some clothes from it, even though none of them were quite his style. He head for the bathroom that was _attached to his bedroom_ and looked into the mirror for the first time that morning. His face didn't stare back. Instead of green eyes, gray ones looked back. Instead of messy light brown hair, he had black hair which was perfectly put in place. Remus was no longer in his own body.

...

When Sirius woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed. He moved slightly and a woman, the woman from before, he recognized, jumped up in shock.

"Remus!" she cried, looking around for someone else. "Oh, my son!"

Sirius wanted to tell her that his name wasn't Remus, it was Sirius and this woman should maybe get help…? Sirius wasn't her son, he didn't even _know_ her. But Sirius' mouth seemed to be glued tight. And his side hurt so much...

Two other people came into the room, the man from earlier and a healer that Sirius sort of knew, one of his parent's friends. They must've heard the woman's cries.

"Remus, are you okay? I mean—" the man rushed over next to Sirius. Again, someone was calling him Remus. "No, you're not. I know you're not. I'm sorry."

"Mr. Lupin, please," the healer said. "If you and your wife would please step out for a few minutes, just so I could explain what happened to Remus…?" Even the healer was calling Sirius Remus?

Everyone seemed so quiet, so mute, almost as if they were grieving something.

"Remus."

Sirius made an effort to shift his body so that he was facing the healer. She gulped.

"I'm sorry, but…" She was having trouble getting the words out. What was so bad? Was he stuck in this 'Remus' person's body for the rest of his life? What happened? "I mean, you'll live but… A werewolf attacked you last night."

 _Oh._

…

From what Remus could figure out, his name was Sirius Orion Black, he had a mother Walburga, a father Orion and a younger brother, Regulus, who was four. Every day the Blacks got up early, around six in the morning, and had breakfast as a family. After breakfast, Regulus and Sirius had to practice their potions making, as it was the only branch of magic they could practice outside of school, since it didn't need wands. Little Regulus wasn't very good at potions, but Sirius was supposedly really good, which Remus found out after he did an awful job at Potions and got scolded by his 'parents'.

After potions, they had dance lessons, because when the pair of sons got older they would have to attend balls to find good suitors. When Remus asked why they needed suitors at all, Orion scolded him.

"Don't ask questions, Sirius. I've already explained all of this to you before. What is with you today?"

At exactly three in the afternoon, the Blacks had afternoon tea which was served by their house elf, Kreacher. Remus figured out that the Blacks liked keeping to a very strict and tight schedule. After tea, Remus and Regulus had some free time before dinner, which would be at five thirty, exactly.

It wasn't until his free time that Remus thought of his parents. What were they doing? Was Sirius Black in Remus' body?

…

Sirius slept for most of the day. Around noon, everything hurt so much that he could hardly move. According to the healer, every month, at the full moon, he'd turn into a werewolf. They would need to take precautions so that he wouldn't hurt anybody. And he'd probably never go to Hogwarts.

But none of those things would happen to Sirius. Sirius would get back into his own body and this Remus Lupin would have to suffer with all of this. Sirius almost felt sorry, but this other guy had stolen his life. Probably. He still wasn't sure on that whole thing.

Sirius' parents would be _so_ mad if they found out. They were fine most of the time, but they weren't fine when they were angry.

He was bored to death and he just wanted to go _home_. The clock next to his hospital bed read 9:24 and Sirius figured he'd better go back to sleep.

…

After dinner, Remus had piano lessons and he failed completely at them. Sirius seemed to be a pretty advanced player, but Remus only knew where the basic notes were.

After piano, Remus climbed into his— into _Sirius'_ bed and fell asleep, exhausted from such a strict schedule. He wasn't sure he could live in Sirius' life for so long.

…

The next morning, Sirius woke up and relaxed immediately. His side wasn't aching and he was back in his own bed, not a hospital one. The previous day was probably just a really bad dream, that was all. Sirius rolled over in his bed and decided to sleep more. He never loved his blanket more.

…

Remus woke up in a great deal of pain. He didn't know why, but everything hurt so much, he couldn't move. It looked like he was in a hospital. His mom was sitting in a chair near his bed.

"Mummy," he croaked, his voice sounding very hoarse.

"Oh, Remus!" she said, rushing over to him. "We were so worried, the healer said you might never talk again, that the bite traumatized you…"

"Bite?" Remus asked, confused. What had happened when he was gone? His mother's face fell.

"You don't remember?"

"No…"


	9. Faulty String

For Romance Awareness Challenge. Day 9, The red string attached to your finger leads to your soulmate (which i took some liberties with?)

Word Count: 437 by Google Docs

* * *

 _Last night you slammed the door_

 _And the wood hitting the wall_

 _Broke our red string of fate_

 _x_

"You nearly _died_!"

"Yeah, but I _didn't_!"

"You were _this_ close. I don't know if I— If you had— Argh!"

Sirius hated the look on Remus' face. Okay, he did _almost_ die, but why would Remus be mad at him?

"I _didn't_ die! Shouldn't you be happy about that?" Sirius shouted back at Remus.

"No, you _idiot_. I mean, _yes_ , but— argh!" He exclaimed again, putting his hand over his forehead, exasperated. Sirius felt a tugging at his left hand's pinky. The red piece of string connecting him and Remus was being stretched with their fight. If he didn't know any better, Sirius would say that it looked like it was on the verge of breaking; Sirius being in Azkaban and with the dementors for twelve year had strong effects on their string.

"What? That doesn't make any sense. Why are you mad, then?"

"I mad because if you had died…" Remus was having trouble articulating how he truly felt to Sirius, for the first time since they were fourteen and saw that the Red String of Fate connected them. The string pulled at Sirius' finger again, almost as if it wanted to break away from him, but Sirius knew that the red string could 'stretch or tangle, but never break'. He even got a tattoo of those words, just to remind himself, yet it seemed to really want to.

"If you had died," Remus finally said, after a few seconds of silence. " _you_ wouldn't even care."

"What?" Sirius' voice cracked. He was pretty sure that he would care if he died; it was _his_ life, after all.

"You didn't take that battle seriously—"

"But I _am_ Sirius—"

"Shut up. Let me speak." The wolf was coming out of Remus and for the first time, Sirius understood why werewolves were feared creatures. "You didn't take that battle seriously, and because of that, you could've died. You know, now that I'm thinking about it, you don't really take _anything_ seriously. You never did. How can I continue to date some who…"

" _Remus_ ," Sirius whispered.

"I _can't,_ Sirius. I'm leaving."

Sirius got up, but Remus was already at the door.

"Goodbye."

The string was now cutting off his circulation, not extending anymore. As Remus slammed the door behind him, it broke.

 _It broke_.

The Red String of Fate, the one that connected _soulmates_ , the one that _never_ broke, _had_ broke, had disconnected Remus and Sirius.

Sirius leaned down and tried to touch it, but it passed through his fingers.

He sat down on the floor, next to the severed string and started to cry.

That _wasn't supposed to happen._


	10. Faulty Mark

These titles don't even make sense anymore

Word Count: 669 by Google Docs

* * *

Sirius had always hated his body. It wasn't a _bad_ body, per se, but he was always self conscience of this huge birthmark he had, right on his shoulder, that was shaped like a duck. He found it quite embarrassing, but as a little kid, his parents would always tell him the tale about how soulmates had matching birthmarks. Sirius' parents both had a birthmark shaped like the moon, which was fitting, given the family's theme with star names.

Were Sirius and his soulmate going to adopt a duck?

...

The first time Remus changed in front of Sirius was in sixth year; he usually avoided showing anyone his body, self-conscience of the scars littering it. He didn't want anyone staring, but that day he was too tired and had overslept too much to really care.

Sirius did stare at Remus as he stripped and Remus hated him for it. He seemed to specifically be looking at a birthmark Remus had on his torso that was shaped sort of like a duck.

"What?" Remus snapped at Sirius while pulling on a shirt.

"Nothing," Sirius said quickly, turning away to hide the blush creeping onto his face.

Remus rolled his eyes. If Sirius had something to say about Remus, he should've spat it out.

…

 _Remus_ was his soulmate, _holy crap_.

Sirius didn't even _like_ guys; he liked boobs too much. Besides, Remus was _Remus_. Yes, Sirius liked him, but as a friend.

 _But you were the one who just stared at him while he was getting dressed. For no reason. That's how you found this out, anyway._

Well, yes, Sirius _did_ stare at Remus, but it was just because he was curious—

 _To see if he looked as good undressed as he does dressed?_

Holy _crap_ , Sirius had a crush on Remus.

…

Sirius avoided Remus for an entire week after that morning, which was quite a feat considering how they shared a room and most of their classes. He eventually just got bored with avoiding him— Remus was his friend, after all— so he started to hang out with him, but a voice in the back of his brain kept on telling him to ask Remus out.

 _You guys_ are _soulmates._

Sirius didn't know why he was so nervous. It wasn't like he'd never asked someone out before; he basically went on weekly dates with different girls. He had never dated a guy before, though, but he _needed_ to ask Remus out because, like the voice kept on reminding him, they were soulmates, so Sirius swallowed his fear and asked Remus out to the next Hogsmeade trip.

"RemusdoyouwanttogoonthenextHogsmeadetripwithme?"

Remus was silent for a moment.

"Do I want to go on the next Hogsmeade trip with you?" he deciphered. Sirius nodded, trying hard not to blush. "Well, I mean, we always go together. The four of us."

"Oh, no, er." Sirius was sure of a blush spreading across his face. "I meant that just the two of us go. Like together. Like a…"

"Like a date?" Remus finished. He was also blushing.

"Uh, yeah, I mean, because," Sirius stammered. Remus was silent again. "I mean if you don't want to…"

"No!" Remus said quickly. "I mean, no. I mean, yes. I mean, yeah, I'd love to go with you. But… why?"

"We're soulmates," Sirius whispered.

"That's the single most cheesy thing I have ever heard."

"No, no, I mean, we're really soulmates. Look!" Sirius pulled at his shirt sleeve so his shoulder was showing and his duck-shaped birthmark was revealed. "We have the matching birthmarks."

Remus absentmindedly rubbed his torso where his birthmark was placed under his shirt.

"I've read about that," he told Sirius. "I never knew it was actually true."

Sirius nodded. "It is. My parents have matching birthmarks and they told me about it."

Both of them were silent for a few seconds, just looking at each other.

"So you'll go with me?" Sirius asked again, breaking the silence. Remus gave Sirius a playful punch.

"Yeah, _soulmate_."


	11. Faulty Blood

For Romance Awareness day, Day 11, A potion or blood ritual reveals your soulmate.

bisexual!sirius because the world needs more bisexuality

(psst the non english part is in burmese! it means 'god of my ancestors, bring forth the one that will make my son whole like he was before birth. give him his other half'. i used google translate, sorry for any mistakes)

Word Count: 477 by Google Docs

* * *

Sirius was dreading turning fifteen. There was a Black family tradition at age fifteen, and he hated any family tradition, but he especially hated the age-fifteen one. He was pretty sure it was illegal.

The tradition was so that they could find out who their soulmates was, by taking some of their blood, saying a spell in a language that Sirius didn't recognize, and teleporting the person's soulmate to them, from wherever they were. He saw it performed on his cousin, Narcissa. Her soulmate was perfectly acceptable; a Malfoy.

Sirius hated this tradition, because he thought soulmates were bullshit. He wanted to date whomever he liked, he didn't want to be betrothed to someone. Besides, Sirius already had his own idea of who he wanted to be his soulmates, and it definitely wasn't someone his parent's would accept. The person was a half-blood, for starters, and they were even a half-breed, not that Sirius cared. Oh, yeah, the person was also a guy. Sirius didn't think that him being bisexual would go over well with his family. They were really the 'accepting' type. Sirius had a big fat crush on Remus Lupin, and he had had it for the past two years. It didn't really matter, though, because there was no way that Remus was Sirius' soulmate anyway, so he could just bury his crush, knowing it would never happen. Still, he shudder to think what would happen if his parents didn't like his soulmate.

It didn't even matter until three months after his birthday, he told himself; the ritual wouldn't happen until Sirius went home for the summer holidays. Maybe he'd even pluck up the courage to start dating Remus before then.

...

Sirius went home after his fourth year with his heart in his throat. He had been thinking about the ritual since his fourteenth birthday in March and it was actually about to happen.

Sure enough, his parents sat his down almost the moment they came home.

"Hold out your hand," his mother ordered. He did, and she slit his arm. The sight of his red blood made Sirius slightly sick.

" _Ngar bhoe bhayy eat bhurarr,_ " his mother began to chant. " _suu m mway hkain hkae sakaeshoet ngareat sarr t pyin lone ko hpyithcay maihu saw t u taee bhwarr. Shuko suueat aahkyarr taitwaat payy!_ "

Sirius' mom finished the spell with a flourish of her wand. There was a flash of light and when it died down, Remus was standing in front of Sirius, looking utterly confused, a fork halfway to his mouth.

"What?" he said, lowering his fork. "Sirius? What?"

"Who is this?" Sirius' mother asked, looking confused and angry. She consulted her book. "There must be some sort of mistake…"

But Sirius didn't care how mad his mother would be, he was even smiling. It seemed like Remus Lupin was Sirius Black's soulmate.


	12. Faulty World

You've seen Faulty Word, well I bring to you Faulty World

For RAC, Day 13 (dw day 12 _will_ come), You have a compass on your arm that leads you to your soulmate, with the VR optional prompts

Also for the Out Of This World Challenge, Pluto, with a VR!AU, "Want an out of this world experience?" and galaxy

Word Count: 1187 by Google Docs

* * *

Remus was running. He didn't know where he was running to, but as long as his compass pointed north, he was good. He also didn't know where the compass led to. All he knew is that he wanted to get out, and the compass on his arm was his only sense of direction in the godforsaken place he was in.

The voice still was ringing in his ears.

" _Want an out of this world experience?"_

He didn't anymore. He wanted _out_.

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again he was in a different place. Of course, because this place had no respect for the laws of _anything_.

He was running through a forest before, but now he was standing in a candyland. Everything, as far as Remus could see, was made out of food.

He didn't want to see what type of people lived _here_. In the forest, there was people with sunken eyes, all of them going after Remus. The world probably put them there just to spite him.

Taking a deep breath, Remus looked at his compass again and set off running.

While he ran, he thought of his beginning here. It wasn't bad at all. There were so many tempting brochures advertising this new world. It would be like their normal Earth, but _way_ better. He was very skeptical at first, but it had millions of reviews that seemed to be all good.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have missed the reviews that said that the place was a soul-sucking hell that he wouldn't be able to get out of.

The place started out exactly as Remus wanted, with his ideal life. He was married to a really nice _girl_ , not a guy, he had a stable job, instead of being jobless every other week, he had kids who loved him, and he had genuine friends. He wasn't alone here. Best of all, he didn't seem to have AIDS in this world, unlike the real world, which means he didn't feel like crap all the time. It was everything he had ever wanted with his life, but he probably wouldn't achieve.

He wasn't sure why it all went sour.

Remus had woken up one morning and his fake wife was gone, along with his fake kids. He assumed that his 'wife' was taking them to the fake school down the street.

He was wrong. They never came back.

Remus decided to leave and find them himself, so he ditched the house and set off on foot. That night was the first time he noticed the compass. He was pretty sure it had just appeared there. That night was also the first time the world changed, erasing the ideal home life Remus had been in for around three weeks. Instead, he was in a desert, with an artificial sun burning him as he walked. He started to hate the world in that moment.

As soon as he thought that he hated the place he was in, people started popping out from the ground, their faces red and covered in sweat. They started going after Remus, and he ran.

After a week of changing environments and being targeted by people the game sent him, Remus landed himself in the candyland that he was in now.

He consulted at his compass again, turned himself so that the needle pointed north, and set off in that direction. Nobody came after him, which he found very suspicious.

He walked straight into a cake.

It disgusted him, touching things in this world, because they felt so real, but he knew that it was all fake. The cake fell over, crumbling and a guy popped out of the mess Remus had made, looking around wildly.

"I'm awake, I'm awake! What…?" The guy looked at Remus, and Remus' breath hitched. He was _beautiful_ and Remus knew he shouldn't be, but he was in love with him already, as if he wasn't controlling his mind, body, or heart.

If he had bothered to check his compass, he would know that the needle was pointing directly toward the random guy.

"Hi," Remus said, holding out a hand to help him up. "I'm Remus."

"Sirius," the person responded, accepting Remus' outstretched hand. "Can I ask why you knocked a cake into me?"

Now that they were level, Remus could see Sirius' eyes fully. They were gray, but they sparkled as if tiny galaxies were placed into them.

"I wasn't looking where I was going," Remus responded. "I thought there would be—"

—something more?" Sirius finished. "Me too, but I've stayed stable in this place for like a week. It seems normal."

"It's been switching for you, too, then?"

"Yeah. The world seems to be glitching, but I don't really know. It could just reach us towards the end goal. I sorta want to leave, but I can't find a way out. I guess I've got to find my own soulmate. It _really_ wants me to get one. Like too much. Like if I don't find my match, I'll die. I don't want to die. Want to team up to find our soulmates together?"

"Same," Remus said, not really hearing Sirius; he was too distracted looking at his face. He shook himself. "What?" he asked Sirius, realizing that he'd just asked a question.

"Want to find our soulmates together? That's how you get out."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, confused.

"Didn't you read the brochure to this system?"

"I skimmed it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well the whole point of this is to find your soulmate. With the compasses. It's sort of like a dating simulator. But not really, I don't know." Sirius turned up his palms.

"Our compasses lead us to our soulmates?" Sirius nodded. "What about the world switches? What was that? And the murderous people?"

"The world glitching, I think. Or it kills us if we don't find our 'soulmate' fast enough?"

Remus looked at his compass.

"Well it seems my soulmate is somewhere over there." He pointed in Sirius' direction.

"And mine is somewhere over there." Sirius pointed in Remus' direction. "So never mind about teaming up, then. I'd better be off."

Remus nodded, slightly sad, knowing that he was probably never going to see Sirius again, but he liked him a lot. Remus thought he was very handsome.

They set off in opposite directions and five steps in, Remus looked at his compass again, just to double check he was going the right way.

His compass was pointing to where he just came from. A little bit frustrated, he turned around and walked the other way. He bumped back into Sirius again while walking.

"Hi," he said to him, smiling.

"Sorry, I went the wrong way."

"Me, too."

Sirius set off, looking down at his compass, and Remus watched him go. Three seconds later, Sirius can back to Remus.

"It keeps on pointing… at you," he told Remus. "Wait."

Sirius circled around Remus while looking down on his arm, and then laughed.

"My compass keeps on point at you," he said, grinning " _You're_ my soulmate!"


	13. Faulty Date

for jenga, word, rarely

for musical chairs, present tense

for RAC day 12, you are born with a time and a place on you and nothing else

Word Count: 569 by Google Docs

lol the title makes no sense

* * *

Remus is hanging out with one of his only friend, James, at their local Taco Bell, when his phone buzzes. It's his alarm, which is set for the same time everyday, 3:15.

"Aw, shit, I gotta go, I'm going to be late," Remus says, picking up his stuff and waving goodbye to James.

"You coffee addicted jerk," James says with a grin. Remus smirks and heads out of the restaurant, on course for Starbucks, where he goes everyday, at the very same time. James know that the reason Remus always goes to Starbucks is because of the tattoo on his upper arm, but he still loves to tease him about it.

Remus was born with the tattoo, and it has become his sort of bible. It says: Starbucks, Frieds Lane, 15:30. Remus has gone to the same Starbucks, at the same time, every day since he was old enough to walk their himself. It's one of the few things that are consistent to him. According to legend, rarely, there are some people that are born with a tattoo, saying the time and place you'll meet your soulmate. He doesn't know if it's true, but Remus is desperate enough to try.

So far, he's had no luck. He doesn't know the exact date that his soulmate will come there, so it still could be in several years, but he doesn't want to miss them, so Remus set his alarm for 3:15 everyday, which gives him time to get there by 3:30.

Remus checks his watch on his way in, nearly panics when it says 3:29, and is about to go in, when someone slams at full speed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the person says, their voice panicky. "I'm just in a rush, and it's my first day on the job and I'm going to be late and I ran here. Sorry!" Remus looks up, and sees a beautiful face looking down at him, covered in worry line.

His mouth opens and closes several times as he stares at the guy, because Remus feels something in his gut, something that wants to be closer to this random guy. He knows it, in his heart, that this is his soulmate.

His watch says 3:30.

"Hi," he says, clearing his throat. "I'm Remus Lupin." He holds out a hand, and the other person takes it and pulls Remus up from the floor, where he's still sitting.

"Sirius Black," he says. "Can I go to work?"

"Oh, yeah." Remus moves away from in front of the door, watches Sirius go in, and follows him in.

Sirius disappears behind the 'Employee Only' door and Remus takes his regular seat near the window and waits for him to come out. He needs to at least get Sirius' number. If he missed his soulmate…

Then again, Remus can just be completely wrong and Sirius isn't his soulmate.

Stop it, he tells felt something with him. Something you've never felt before.

Sirius comes out of the door, wearing his Starbuck apron, and Remus tries to catch his eye and smile at him, but Sirius seems to specifically avoid Remus' gaze, which frustrates him. Remus walks up to the counter, to confront him.

"What would you like?" Sirius says, looking up at him and blushing, remembering their earlier encounter. Remus thinks for a second, then grins, and says,

"How about your number?"


End file.
